Dr. John Palka is a retired professor of biology at the University of Washington with a specialty in neuroscience. He is the winner of numerous prestigious academic awards, including election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, two Fulbright Fellowships for teaching in India, and a Guggenheim Fellowship for research in Cambridge, England. He also co-founded and co-directed the University of Washington's highly lauded Program on the Environment.

A two-time refugee from his Slovak homeland- in 1939 from the Nazis and in 1949 from the Communists- Dr. Palka has retained his love for Slovakia and his fluency in the Slovak language. Over the years he has visited his family in Slovakia often. These experiences inspired his research into the role that many generations of his family played in the national life of Slovakia, laying the foundation for his book My Slovakia, My Family: One Family's Role in the Birth of a Nation.

Learn about how you can learn Portuguese at Pitt and engage with the Lusophone community of the greater Pittsburgh area.

Our annual Silent Asia film screening is a collaboration with the Department of Music to showcase student musical compositions in tandem with the Chinese silent film Cave of the Silken Web (1927). 

Are you an international student at Pitt looking to connect, or interested in connecting with international students? Stop by the Nook in the Global Hub on Tuesdays, between 2 and 4 pm during Spring semester, to chat with OIS Outreach Coordinator Zharia White from the Office of International Services!

Stop by the Global Hub to learn more about financial wellness!

Attention: Undergraduate students! Are you looking to gain experience that will help prepare you for a globally-connected job market? Stop by Drop-In Hours to learn more about getting the Global Distinction added to your academic transcript, receiving special recognition at graduation, and standing out to prospective employers!

Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during Spring semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!

The French Club will meet twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, during Spring 2025, EXCEPT on January 22, February 5, March 4, and March 5.

Join your classmates for Slovak conversation practice in a fun, relaxed environment!

The presentation discusses the role of local public libraries in shaping memory about the Great Patriotic War in Russia today. With a particular focus on the Northwest of Russia, it will demonstrate how local libraries practice an emotional approach to commemoration, building close connections with their audiences through the feelings and personal histories they convey by means of material objects. Rendering local public libraries as powerful memory influencers in the region, the presentation will show their contribution to promoting local patriotism and remembering the militarized past.

Elena Kochetkova is currently an Associate Professor of Modern European Economic History at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen. She is the author of the monograph "The Green Power of Socialism: Wood, Forest, and the Making of Soviet Industrially Embedded Ecology" (MIT Press, 2024). She is currently working on a monograph on food modernity under state socialism. She is also working within the project "'Memory Politics of the North, 1993-2023", funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

Zoom link: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GaWLKmgcR0CfmfpNGcQzMA

Dr. Zhong's work explores how, subject to the forces of the state and the market, Chinese cultural production continues to be influenced by different and sometimes conflicting cultural and ideological legacies related to the complexity of one and a half centuries of modern Chinese history. Television drama as a quintessential mainstream cultural phenomenon and offers a diverse collectionof televisual textual materials with which to study the implications of these influences. 

Join the French Club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during Spring semester for conversational meetings and to practice French speaking and listening skills and create a francophone community on campus!

The French Club will meet twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, during Spring 2025, EXCEPT on January 22, February 5, March 4, and March 5.

Join the German Club on Wednesdays during Spring semester for conversational meetings and to practice German speaking and listening skills.

The German Club will meet on Wednesdays during Spring 2025, EXCEPT on January 22, February 5, and March 5.

The African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) is a professional organization that works to promote the teaching of, and research in, African languages and cultures. ALTA’s annual conferences provide an avenue for teachers, researchers, students, and other stakeholders in the field to meet and share their research, experiences, and best practices while finding ways to improve and promote the teaching of African languages.

The 2025 ALTA Conference will explore the integration of various disciplines, professions, and communities to enhance African language pedagogy. In an increasingly interconnected world, the teaching and learning of African languages must evolve to meet the demands of a diverse and globalized society. Participants will engage in discussions on how to incorporate cultural, social, and professional contexts into language instruction, making learning more relevant and impactful for students. The conference will highlight innovative approaches that connect African language education with other areas of study, such as history, social sciences, health, technology, and the arts. Additionally, it will emphasize the role of community engagement, particularly the involvement of African diaspora communities, in enriching the language learning experience.

By integrating disciplines, professions, and communities, ALTA aims to empower educators to create more holistic, inclusive, and effective African language programs that prepare students to navigate and contribute to the complex realities of the modern world.

Learn more and register: https://www.ucis.pitt.edu/africa/alta2025

Swahili Level 4 students: Join Swahili instructor Faraja Ngogo on Thursdays at 11 am-12 pm in the Global Hub to practice Swahili.

Mangia con noi! Bring your lunch and chat with us! Pitt students only, all levels welcome!

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently predicted that global average temperatures will rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in the mid-2030s. Over the last decades, a global network of scholars, policy makers, activists, and others have organized to offer ways to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change. What offramps can these solutions and movements offer our collective humanity?

“Eurasian Environments” seeks to provide some reflections to mark the UN’s 2024 Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. This series will examine social justice and sustainability efforts to address climate change by putting scholars of Eurasia in conversation with their peers specializing on Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The series will comprise six events that will illuminate the challenges and possible solutions to climate change in Eurasia in regional and global contexts.

This event is part of the Eurasian Environments: Climate Justice and Sustainability in Global Context series.

Swedish Speaking Club is a space for practicing Swedish and deepening cultural understanding alongside others who are learning.

Join us on the fourth floor of Posvar Hall for a one-of-a-kind block party from the Center for Urban Education, Pitt's Department of Africana Studies, and the University Center for International Studies! Connect and learn about student clubs, organizations and discover new spaces to hang out between classes to support your academic journey, all with live music and free food! This interactive event offers the perfect opportunity to explore how our centers can elevate your college experience and boost your success.

Come and go, before, after or between classes during this three hour block of fun!

Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim is Professor of Theology at Earlham College. She has written or edited two dozen books, many of which converge on the themes of race, gender, and religion. Some of her most recent books include When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness for a More Just Christianity; lntersectional Theology: An Introductory Guide (with Susan Shaw); and Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women. 

Why are cute and creepy mascots so ubiquitous among Japan’s cities and regions? Is there a Japanese Bigfoot? Have extraterrestrials ever landed in Japan? This lecture traces the history of Japanese mascots, cryptids, and UFOs, exploring how invented, imagined, and unexplained creatures have been deployed in tourism campaigns, the creation of regional identity, and local commercial boosterism. These “civic monsters” grew from Japan’s rich and distinctive monster culture of folkloric yōkai and cinematic kaijū but are also deeply woven into global circuitries of politics, capitalism, media, and play.

Why are cute and creepy mascots so ubiquitous among Japan’s cities and regions? Is there a Japanese Bigfoot? Have extraterrestrials ever landed in Japan? This lecture traces the history of Japanese mascots, cryptids, and UFOs, exploring how invented, imagined, and unexplained creatures have been deployed in tourism campaigns, the creation of regional identity, and local commercial boosterism. These “civic monsters” grew from Japan’s rich and distinctive monster culture of folkloric yōkai and cinematic kaijū but are also deeply woven into global circuitries of politics, capitalism, media, and play.

Bill Tsutsui, PhD, is an award-winning scholar and teacher, an experienced academic leader, and an outspoken supporter of the public humanities, international education, and more inclusive, accessible colleges and universities. He researches, writes, and speaks widely on Japanese economic and environmental history, Japanese popular culture (especially the Godzilla movies), Japanese-American identity, and issues in higher education. He is highly opinionated about BBQ, proud to have once driven the Zamboni at an NHL game, and slightly embarrassed to be Level 40 in Pokemon Go. He is currently Professor Emeritus of History at Hendrix College, a top-tier national liberal arts college founded in 1876 and located in Conway, Arkansas.

Join undergraduate Pitt students for a conversation hour to practice speaking in Hindi and Urdu and connect over shared cultural experiences.

Kya Baat Hai will meet weekly, on Fridays, during the 2024-2025 academic year, EXCEPT on March 7.

Swahili Level 2 students: Join Swahili instructor Faraja Ngogo on Fridays at 4-5 pm in the Global Hub to practice Swahili.

Join Addverse, a transcultural, multilingual, and intergenerational poetry organization, for weekly meetings in the Global Hub.

Addverse will meet weekly, on Fridays, during Spring 2025, EXCEPT on January 24 and March 7.